Many doctors ignore license ruling: IDI

Many doctors ignore license ruling: IDI

JAKARTA (JP): Many health professionals have ignored a two-
year-old government ruling that requires them to obtain a license
to practice.

Only 21.5 percent of the 8,000 doctors in Jakarta have applied
for a license, said Agus Purwadianto, head of the Jakarta branch
of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), on Thursday.

He said the reason behind the neglect was the lack of time the
professionals had to obtain licenses as most of them had tight
daily schedules.

The Ministry of Health's deadline for the professionals to
abide by the new ruling was on Aug. 25, or two years after the
ruling was issued. But Agus said IDI's head office would ask the
government to postpone the deadline to December 1999.

Agus was speaking at a joint news conference on health-
practice consumers organized by IDI Jakarta and representatives
of the Indonesia Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI)

Licenses, he said, should be renewed every five years. They
are not renewed unless doctors pass a medical knowledge
assessment test.

Those who fail the test will have to undergo a relearning
process before they can obtain a license renewal, he said.

Agus said the ruling was to ensure the provision of quality
medical services to the public.

IDI's central board will standardize medical doctors'
signboards to better inform the public about their expertise,
working hours, licenses and IDI membership, he said.

Doctors have to obtain IDI recommendation on their physical
and psychological fitness, ethics and competency before they can
practice their profession, Agus said.

He said medical practice and medical ethics violations,
including criminal offenses, were subject to a Rp 100 million
fine and the closure of a doctor's practice.

Agus also urged the public to report any irregular medical
services and to call their local IDI branch for immediate action.

Meanwhile, Marius Widjajarta, head of the foundation, said the
organization had received 30 complaints from the public since
October last year.

The complaints ranged from unsatisfactory service,
unprofessional medical practitioners, malpractice and even bogus
medical doctors.

Seppi Tompodung, a victim from Lenteng Agung, south of here,
shared his experience, saying when he took his baby son for an X-
ray, the doctor turned out to be a bogus internist.

He alleged that the doctor, by the name of Tadjudin Tutu, took
an X-ray with a pocket camera. Although Seppi was astounded he
did not protest. On his next visit, Tutu put the baby in a barrel
wrapped with aluminum foil with a bunch of cables attached to it,
saying that the baby needed a scan.

When Seppi remarked that the scanning equipment looked like a
turbine, Tutu said it was a German-made machine.

Seppi later reported the case to YPKKI. But by the time YPKKI
officials visited the alleged bogus doctor, he had fled.

YPKKI which was founded on Aug. 18 last year as a non-
governmental organization dedicated to protecting health
consumers from fraudulent medical services. (06)